The Nikkei fell as much as 1.4% at one point and touched its lowest levels in four months ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data later in the day. Those moves were accompanied by the dollar falling to 15-month lows against the yen.

Automakers closed the session in negative territory, with Toyota and Honda Motor lower by 2.1% and 1.2% respectively. Technology shares were also mostly lower, with SoftBank Group declining 2.4% by the end of the day.

Toshiba bucked the trend to climb 1.9%. The company announced on Wednesday that it would appoint Nobuaki Kurumatani as chairman and chief executive.

Among other heavyweights, Fanuc Manufacturing fell 1.4% Fast Retailing shed 0.1% by the end of the session.

Shares of Lotte Corporation closed down 6% after Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was sentenced to two years and six months of jail as part of a wider political scandal in South Korea. Lotte Shopping stock ended the day lower by 2.3%

In Australia, the heavily weighted financials sub-index dragged on the broader index. The sector edged down by 0.7% as most of Australia's "Big Four" banks closed the session lower: Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 3% and ANZ was lower by 0.3%

In other individual stocks, Australian department store operator Myerjumped 4.67 percent after the retailer announced Wednesday that Chief Executive Richard Umbers was stepping down. The search for Umbers' replacement has commenced immediately, Myer said in a statement.

Mainland China markets will close from Feb. 15 to Feb. 21 while Hong Kong markets will be shut from Feb. 16 to Feb. 19 for the Lunar New Year. Other regional markets, including South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, will also finish the week early due to the holiday.

In other markets

Taiwan markets remained shuttered for holiday

In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 31.33 points, or 0.8%, to 3,966.96

The Kospi in Korea gained 26.64 points, or 1.1%, to 2,421.83

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index subtracted 12.21 points, or 0.4%, to 3,402.86